A Fresh Start
by Exeterra
Summary: When Julia's family drag her off on their hiking trip in the jungle of Nule, she gets left behind. She is found by a freindly elephant named Horton, who wants to help her. but how? And why can she understan him? Is she supposed to talk to animals?
1. Chapter 1

_**Oh yay! A new fanfic! Everyone loves fanfiction…okay. So, disclaimer…I do not own any Who's or any animals or characters aside from Julia and maybe some other random Who's I might make up. Disclaim disclaim disclaim…that ought to do it! :)**_

My parents just _had _to bring me on this stupid hike. We were fighting our way through some remote jungle called Nule.

This was stupid. I would much rather e with my friends, listening to music, playing on my computer…basically anything but what I was now being forced to do.

"Julia," my father called to me. "Catch up! You don't want to be left behind!"

"Yeah, sure, 'cause I'm just loving it here," I said under my breath. I deliberately walked even slower.

I stared at the ground. I made a point of crushing flowers and bugs under my feet. I was mad and annoyed.

When I looked up, I couldn't see my family anymore. I couldn't see the path. I was in the middle of an unknown jungle, miles away from everything, including civilization. I yelled for my parents, the guide, _anyone_, but no one came. My voice was swallowed in the dense foliage.

I was about to climb a tree to get a better view, when an elephant came crushing through the trees.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" I yelled, and I heard the elephant go, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" in response.

"Y—you can talk?" I asked him.

"_You_ can talk?" he said. "Most humans that come through here just talk gibberish. You're the first one I can understand!"

"O…kay…listen, Mr Elephant…"

"Call me Horton," he said.

"Okay, Horton. My name is Julia. I have lost my family, and I don't know where I am."

"I should take you to the Kangaroo. She'll want to help!"

"The…kangaroo." I didn't like where this was going. I could _talk_ to _animals_. Clearly something was very wrong with me.

"Yes! Come with me!"

He lifted me in his trunk. I gasped, and then laughed as he set me down on his wide shoulders.

"You okay up there?" he asked.

"I'm GREAT!" I said. "This is the most fun I've had my whole trip!"

I suddenly realized I was talking to an elephant, and started laughing. I laughed so hard, tears started to stream down my cheeks, and it was all I could do not to fall.

"What's so funny?" asked Horton.

I just laughed even harder. When I got enough breath, I choked, "Nothing!"

"Okay," he said.

We looked around for the kangaroo—"She's big, bossy, and purple," Horton told me. "You can't miss her."

When we finally found her, Horton said, "Hey! Look at what I found!"

"A _human_?!" replied the kangaroo. I found I could understand her as well, and I could hear some birds chatting in a tree nearby. I supposed I could understand all animals. I wouldn't know—I had never been near any animals, since my parents didn't want pets.

"Yes, she is a human," replied Horton.

"Horton, what were you thinking?! A HUMAN?! Take it away, this INSTANT!"

"O—okay!" said Horton, clearly afraid of her insane, angry behaviour.

He ran, me still on his shoulders, into the forest. I stole a glance back and saw the kangaroo glaring at me.

Once we were a great distance from the insane kangaroo (at least, I though she looked a little deranged), I said to Horton, "No one likes me! Everyone thinks I'm just in the way! I wish I could disappear! Nothing ever goes right!"

"Oh, it's okay," said Horton, "I like you."

"Thanks, Horton," I said.

"You know what," he said thoughtfully, "I know where we should go. I know someone who is in the exact same position as you are!"

"Really?!"

"Really."

I tried to make him tell me where we were headed, but he would only tell me that he wanted it to be a surprise.

"Horton!"

I heard the voice come from behind us.

"Morton!" cried Horton happily.

Out of the bushes came a small mouse. His voice was misleadingly deep compared to his size.

"Horton—is it true? Did you find a—HORTON! There is a HUMAN on your back!"

"Yes, I know, Morton. This is Julia. Julia, this is my best friend, Morton."

"You know it?!" asked Morton.

"Sure. Julia and I are friends," said Horton. I sat there not knowing what to make of the conversation.

"Well," Horton continued, "I'm taking Julia to…somewhere. I told her I would. I meant what I said, and I said what I meant—and an elephant's faithful—"

"One hundred percent. Yeah, yeah."

I smiled. Horton was so nice, and apparently had a cute little rhyming motto.

"Well, I'll see you around, Horton. Just don't let the kangaroo turn this situation into another one of those 'speck' episodes."

"I won't," said Horton. "See you, Morton."

As we walked away, I asked Horton, "Speck?"

"Nothing. You'll find out soon enough," he finished mysteriously.

I asked, "Please tell me?"

He started to say something, then stopped, and this happened a few times before he said, "OKAY! Fine…I'm taking you to Mount Nule to see the mayor…but mostly his son, Jojo. He doesn't get along with anyone because no one really understands him, so I thought you two would get along well."

"That's sweet Horton," I said, thinking, well, I'm basically being set up on a blind date by an elephant.

Anyway—when we got to the giant mountain, Horton asked me if I could see a sunflower right at the top. I squinted, using my hand to shade my eyes from the sun.

"Yes—I think I do," I told him.

"That's where the speck is."

"The…speck."

"RIGHT! Did I forget to mention—the mayor and all of Whoville live on this speck?"

"Um…kinda."

"Oh well…now you know."

"_Thanks_," I said sarcastically.

Anyway, we began the long, not-so-perilous trek up to the top of mount Nule. Upon reaching the top, we went into a cave. In the middle of this cave, in the center of a shaft of light, was a sunflower. If you looked closely, you could see a speck of dust on it.

"Mr. Mayor?" Horton said to the speck. "Mayor, are you there?"

"Horton?!" said a voice, presumably from the speck. My eyes widened in amazement.

"Horton, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Mayor. How are you?"

"I'm great! How about you?"

"I'm fine, Mayor. Listen, I've got a friend here—her name is Julia."

Horton nudged me, so I timidly said, "Hello."

The mayor said, "Hello, Julia. I am the mayor of Whoville. Pleased to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mayor," I said.

The mayor proceeded to tell me all about Whoville—about their funny instruments, the oddly-shaped buildings, and all the funny hair. Of course, when I told him how my town was, he laughed, thinking _I_ was the weird one.

I imagined myself as a Who. I imagined I was standing with the mayor on his balcony. It was so real, I could even feel the marble under my feet.

I opened my eyes—no wait, they already were open. So—why was the picture of Whoville still there?


	2. First Day in Whoville

_**Alrighty! Chapter two! Anyway, disclaimer same as before—the random kids at school and the teachers are mine as well, so yeah…plus I had to come up with some random sister names, but technically I only own the names not the characters, so yeah…**__**Also, I got asked if this was a JojoxOC fic, and my response is…maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe…hehe!**_

I saw the mayor look at me oddly. He said, "Hello, I'm Ned McDodd, the mayor of Whoville. And you are?"

"I'm…Julia?" I said.

"Julia?! You mean…" he pointed helplessly at the sky, then back at me.

"Julia!" I heard Horton's voice, but I couldn't see him. His voice seemed to be coming out of a little funnel-like thing that looked like it came off an old record player.

"Horton! Is that you?" I asked.

"Yes! Julia, how did you get in there?!"

"I…I don't know!"

The mayor cleared his throat. "Well, I'm not very sure what's going on here…I mean, this is weirder than the time Horton told me I was living on a speck…but, you know, you could stay with us—I mean, since you don't know how you got here and all…"

"I…I couldn't," I said.

"I insist!" he replied.

Shyly, I said, "Alright. Thank you, Mr McDodd."

Anyway, we said goodbye to Horton, who was about to leave—promising to visit soon—and then Mr McDodd said it was time to go home. Before leaving, the mayor called home and said that he was bringing home a guest who had no where to stay for a while—in other words, me.

Walking home next to him and his fish, Finwick, was interesting. Everything was built rounded and loopy and strange—but I liked it. I just realized I had fur all over. It was soft and silky. My fur-clothing was a blue striped long-sleeve shirt and jeans—or I assumed that would be the clothing equivalent.

Upon arriving at the mayor's house, he said, "I'll have to warn you—"

He was cut off by a rush of girls coming out, screaming, "Daddy!"

He nodded at me to go inside. In the front hall, I saw a Who woman that I assumed was the mayor's wife. She greeted me with a cheerful, "Hello! My name is Sally. Pleased to meet you."

She held out her hand to shake. I took it, saying, "I'm Julia."

Just then, the mayor came back in with the onslaught of daughters, saying, "Dinnertime!"

We all trooped into the dining room, me following the rest of the girls.

"Hi," said one who looked about my age. "I'm Hannah!"

"And I'm Heather!"

Several other girls introduced themselves to me, but the only ones I could remember at the time were Hannah, Heather, Holly, Haley, Holly, Hildy, Hilda, Hooly, Heady, and Helga. Apparently, the mayor and his wife were fond of H names.

"Oh…" said the mayor, "Where's Jojo?"

"I'll get him," said one girl whose name I didn't know. She got off her chair and rushed out to find him.

She returned later with a little grey and black who. I assumed this was Jojo. He looked very depressed and sad.

He sat with a sigh on an empty chair, and the girl returned to hers. The mayor said, "Well, now that we're all here…"

He pushed a big red button, and the chairs began a rotation, so I was in a new place every 12 seconds. It was a little dizzying, but I got used to it after a few rotations.

I was between two sisters named Heyla and Harper, and they started telling me about school, the popular people, and who they thought was hot.

I nodded and laughed along with them. The dinner was delicious, but you had to snatch it off of plates in the middle of the long, spiralling table before 12 seconds was up. There wasn't much time to eat, but the food was good and very filling, so it didn't matter.

Apparently I got 12 seconds too. When my chair whizzed up in front of the mayor, he said, "So, Julia—how do you like Whoville so far?"

"I love it, Mr McDodd!" I gushed. It was amazing. He looked like he was about to say something, but then the 12 seconds was up and I whizzed along past him. On the way by, Sally waved at me, and I waved back.

After dinner, I was dragged by Heyla and Harper to their room. They, the other girls and I were talking for ages, telling each other about ourselves, and things like that. We all fell silent when the mayor walked in, and then giggled. I saw Jojo skulking behind him, and I smiled at him, remembering what Horton had said.. He just looked down and sighed.

"Well," said the mayor, "We've decided that Julia can sleep in Jojo's room, and Jojo will bunk with you girls."

All the girls said, "Awww!"

I could tell by Jojo's expression that he didn't like this development. I remembered that he was in the same position as me. I knew what to do.

"Mr McDodd," I piped up, "I can bunk with the girls instead. We're already friends, anyway. I mean, as long as they don't mind. That way, Jojo can keep his room."

Jojo looked up at me, surprised. I smiled at him. Then a funny thing happened. He was _almost_ smiling.

It only lasted a second though. Then he was back to his depressed self.

The girls all said, "Yeah!!!" and so it was decided that I would stay there. I got an empty bunk, the seventh one from the bottom. It was high up. Luckily, I wasn't afraid of heights, and didn't move much in my sleep.

Anyway, Jojo left and the mayor came and tucked in all the girls, calling to me, "Good night, Julia!"

"Good night, Mr McDodd!" I replied, snuggling under the covers. This was certainly the most interesting family vacation I had ever been on.


	3. Whoville High

_**Okay, so not much of a cliff-hanger last chapter…anyway, I'm surprised I actually g t positive reviews, so I'm working hard to finish this story fast. I'm also working on other stories, though, so it might be a while between posts—sorry!**_

_**Also, there actually is green eggs and ham in the movie, on the table at the breakfast scene. If you haven't noticed before, look for it. When I pointed it out to my friend, **_**iloveedwardcullenXDXD** _**she hadn't noticed, but now looks for it every time and thinks of me, so I'm told. We don't see each other much, so this on goes out to you, iloveedwardcullenXDXD! (I would put your real name, but then again, this is public internet space!! Not smart…)**_

When I woke up in the morning, it took me a moment to realize where I was. I only noticed when Heyla climbed up to my bunk and woke me, saying, "Time for school!"

I got up and straightened my fur. Wow—that was a funny thought.

I brushed my hair with the girls and went through a mostly normal morning routine, aside from the fact that I was in Whoville.

After our preparations, we went into the dining room and sat on the spinning chairs. I couldn't help but think that if this were in my world, it would have seatbelts. Well, that would certainly take all the fun out of it. I started laughing—I did that a lot. Bursting out laughing in the silence, I mean. I was just a happy person. Jojo looked up at me from his seat at the far side of the table, and I smiled. He waved.

I gasped. He just looked away.

I was sitting between Hadley and Herbie. Suddenly, the chairs started rotating. I grabbed some green eggs (sunny side up) and some toast. I wasn't all that hungry—I mean, after all, my stomach was now microscopic!

When my chair pulled up for my 12 seconds, the mayor said, "How did you sleep?"

"Great, Mr McDodd!" I said. "The girls and I are great friends!"

"That's wonderful," he said, and then the 12 seconds was up and I was sent whizzing away.

"Hey," said Hadley. "You should come to Whoville High for school with us today!"

"Sounds like fun!" I said, mostly because I wasn't getting home anytime soon, and I needed school if I wanted to be with the program when I DID get home.

So that was how I ended up in the school office, holding a timetable on a slip of paper. It said all of my classes and where to find them.

Just then, Jojo rushed in, and I wondered why he was so late. He ran up to the secretary, and she filled him out a late slip with an air of routine.

"Jojo," she said, "You wouldn't mind showing Julia around, would you? Great! Julia, you have all the same classes as Jojo, so this will work out great!"

Jojo just sighed and gestured me to follow him. I supposed it was better than being ignored.

"Jojo?" I said. "Why don't you talk?"

He just sighed and shrugged. We continued on in silence.

Our first class that day was math. It was pretty boring in a way that only math could be.

The rest of the day was uneventful—science, gym, art, French and then English. The last class we had was double music. I loved music, so it was pretty good.

Walking into the classroom was interesting, because the teacher ran up to me and said, "You must be Julia!"

I nodded.

"Well, we need to know what instrument you can play…can you play a bazooka? What about a tom-tom?"

She prattled off some other nonsensical instruments. The only one I recognized was guitar, which I could play, but not well. Then the last thing she said was "vocals" and I knew what that was. My friends had told me I was good at singing, and had often prompted me to audition for talent shows and things, but I never had.

"Vocals," I said firmly to the teacher, and she said, "Alright, let's see what you can do then."

She looked at me expectantly, and I thought nervously, in front of the class? She wants me to sing in front of the whole class?!

She said, "Go on, dear."

I took a deep breath and started singing a Taylor Swift song—You Belong With Me.

"You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset, she's going off about something that you said, 'cause she doesn't get your humour like I do. I'm in my room, it's a typical Tuesday night, I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like, and she'll never know your story like I do. But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts; she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers dreaming 'bout the day when you'll wake up and find that what you're looking for has been here the whole time; do you see that I'm the one who understands you, been here all along, so why can't you see, you belong with me—you belong with me."

The teacher started clapping, an awestruck look on her face. Then I heard applause form the rest of the class. I'm fairly sure I was blushing under my fur.

"That was wonderful!" cried the teacher, whose name I had forgotten. It was written on the slip, which was comfortably in my pocket.

"Next," she said, "Is Jojo."

I didn't know what Jojo played. I hadn't seen him participate in a single thing all day. I took my seat at the front of the music room, and Jojo walked to the front of the room and picked up and acoustic guitar.

So he played guitar—probably better than me.

He started playing, and I couldn't help but think it was beautiful—that is, until he started singing.

"I shouldn't love you, but I want to, I just can't turn away. I shouldn't see you, but I can't move, I can't look away."

The teacher, not to mention the class, looked astounded. I just smiled at Jojo, and he almost-smiled back for a second.

"I shouldn't love you, but I want to, I just can't turn away. I shouldn't see you, but I can't move, I can't look away. and I don't know, how to be fine when I'm not, 'cause I don't know how to make a feeling stop. Just so you know, this feeling's taking control of me, and I can't help it. I won't sit around, I can't let 'em win now. Thought you should know, I tried my best to let go of you, but I don't want to. Just gotta say it all before I go—just so you know."

He played a bit more on the guitar, and then stopped. It, unlike my performance, was met by an astounded silence. I started applauding. Soon everyone else had started too. They were all shocked.

Jojo had an amazing voice. I was fairly sure I could have sat and listened to it all day.

Leaving music class, Jojo was the first out. I rushed to catch up with him

"Jojo," I called. "Jojo, that was amazing—why don't you use your voice more often?"

Silence.

"That was better than listening to the radio—better than when Jesse McCartney sang it."

More silence.

"Jojo, please tell me why you don't talk. Please. That was amazing."

"I can't take this anymore."

I actually stopped, which was good, since he had, too.

"You—you spoke." I said. It was a statement—not a question. "What can't you take anymore?"

"My dad wants me to be mayor, but I don't want to be. But he's just so exited about it, and I don't want to hurt his feelings by saying something wrong, or telling him I don't want to be mayor."

"Jojo, that's sweet, but I'm sure he would understand."

"You don't get it! It's tradition for the mayor's oldest child to be the next mayor, and guess what—that's me. I actually thought he got it, back when Horton saved us all, but no. he thought that having musical talent was a great thing for a mayor."

"That's awful," I said sympathetically.

"It's not like he tries to do it," Jojo said, "But he doesn't realize that I don't want to be mayor."

"You should talk to him about it."

"Not yet. Maybe I will, but not anytime soon. Thanks anyway though. I'm glad I can talk to you. You know, you're the first person who's been nice to me. Everyone else thinks I'm weird or depressed or even emo. I am NOT emo."

He smiled at me. An actual smile. He had a really nice smile.

This was the best vacation of my life.


End file.
